Last days of summer

I was looking through a few photos on the computer and saw a few that hadn't been shared of what we've been up to for the past few weeks.  Here's how our last bit of summer vacation went down.

Some friends of ours live in the Blue Ridge neighborhood and invited us to spend time down at the beach with them. It was a beautiful evening spent with lovely friends.

 Cleaning their feet.

 We signed up Daniel for a week-long swimming lesson session. He had a great time, as usual.

Barbecue down at Nana and Papa's house with the cousins!

 Five of the six local cousins with Great Grandpa Milt on his birthday.

 Riding bikes up and down the block is getting pretty boring (for Daniel, especially), so we packed the bikes up one day and took them to the cemetery to practice riding. It went really well, however we chose one of the hottest days of summer to go, and we didn't last long.

 These two spent an incredible amount of time in the pool this summer. Toward the end of the summer we ended up being a "clothing optional" operation. They loved it. :)

 For whatever reason, we never made it down to the wading pool down at greenlake until last week.  We went a few days in a row and the boys had such a great time floating and splashing around.

Daniel was very kind and gave his brothers rides.

 Nothing beats a little poolside snack. 

Aaron learned to sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" this summer. This is his goofy rendition.

 So long, summer! We had a wonderful time filled with water play, friends and lots of cool treats. Can't wait for another fun summer next year!

Cousin Visit

Auntie Karen, Uncle Jesse, and cousins Grady, Colin and Adam came all the way from Maryland to visit us!  We had a whirlwind 10 days of time together, both at our house and down on Grandma's farm in Rochester. It was so much fun for the boys to get to play together. Six boys under the age of 5! Are we crazy?!

We took a trip to the Centralia Children's Museum one day. Adam was thoroughly excited.

 Auntie Laura and Aaron built some towers...

 which Aaron promptly knocked down.

 Five of the six playing almost together.

Daniel and Chris spent the entire time building with legos.

 Back at the farm, the sheep were a big draw for Adam,

 and Aaron, too! He spent most of his time yelling "BAAAAA!" at them.

 Six boys in a wheelbarrow.

 The big brothers give Colin a ride.

After Mass photo at St. Mary's in Centralia, where Uncle Jesse and Auntie Karen were married 10 YEARS AGO! Look how sweet they are! We took pictures of Karen and Jesse here, too, but those pictures must've been on somebody else's camera...
 

 The Southwest Washington Fair was going on, so we took a trip down to check it out. Matthew loved the airplane ride.

 Uncle Jesse earned a parenting merit badge...he stayed at the fair almost all day with Daniel and Grady (an additional 4 hours after the rest of us went home for naps) so they could ride all the rides they were big enough for, hundreds of times over.

 Another day trip: Westport! It was raining when we got there, but by the time we got home we had a few very sunburnt boys. :(

 Grady was a little upset that Washington beaches are not nearly as warm as the Jersey Shore.

 Daniel didn't seem to mind....until he fell in.

 Colin didn't seem to mind either.

And Matthew....well...Matthew really enjoyed the sand.

Oldest to youngest.

 Boots!

 So many fun/dangerous games on the farm. Like, "play on the broken picnic table." (Which wasn't broken until we got there...)

 "Play on the broken picnic table with a bucket on your head." Leave it to Aaron to add new dangerous aspects to the game.

Back in Seattle, the boys found safer but still exciting things to do. Like watch for the garbage truck.

Traffic jam while playing with bikes, trikes, and other vehicles.

 Fudgesicles! Hooray for visits with cousins!

Cousin fun

Yesterday we had lots of play time with family. Aunt Bea came over and played with the boys while I made a solo trip to the grocery store. Not quite how I would choose to spend my alone-time, but WAY better than going shopping with all three kiddos. The boys had a picnic lunch on the deck with Bea, then after Matthew went down for his nap, Bea took Daniel on an adventure to her house. He brought me home a very sweet bouquet of flowers he picked in her garden. While he was out with Bea, Uncle Ian and Auntie Robin and cousins Jacob and Karoly came over to play. It was so nice to have time together with them and we shared some delicious food (and dessert!). We're looking forward to spending more time with them next week!

 The cash register is a hit with everyone.

 Karoly and Aaron trying to figure out how this thing works.

 I love that they're all playing in close proximity to but independently of each other.

 The weather finally came around and we were able to get outside. Aaron tries to figure out the squirt gun while Karoly plays with Aaron's pacifier.

 Jacob takes a tour of the new play structure.

 The three big cousins enjoying dessert: ice cream with fresh peaches and homemade hot fudge sauce. (Thanks, Auntie Robin!)

 Karoly lounges in the exersaucer.

 Now that we've had a chance to refuel, it's pool time again!

 Two moms and a fussy baby. :)

 I had just announced that it was bath time. Only one kid was pleased with this.

A tub full of cousins. Even though Karoly isn't looking, this is my favorite picture of the bunch. Too bad Matthew has been hostile at bath time. It would've been cute to get a picture of all of them in there.

The Early Days II

Just a little guy safe in the arms of great uncle Victor

Cute baby - cute cousins - cute picture

Oldest generation with the youngest - Great Grandma Jo meets Daniel

Ninja Daniel...silent but deadly...